Benjamin Constant

Henri-Benjamin Constant de Rebecque (25 October 1767-8 December 1830) was a Swiss-French liberal politician who served in the Council of Deputies from 1819 to 1830 during the Bourbon Restoration regime.

Biography
Henri-Benjamin Constant de Rebecque was born in Lausanne, Switzerland on 25 October 1767, the cousin of Dutch States Army general Jean Victor de Constant Rebecque. He became a political writer during the 1790s, and, following the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution, he spoke in favor of the British Parliament and bicameralism; some of his ideas on government were adopted by Napoleon Bonaparte in the Constitution of the Year III, the Council of Five Hundred, and the Council of Ancients. He served on the Tribunat from 1799 to 1802, when he was removed due to his liberal views. He served on the Council of State from April to July 1815 during the Hundred Days, supporting Napoleon's constitutional monarchy. After the Battle of Waterloo, Constant fled to London, and he returned to France in 1817. Constant became a liberal philosopher, supporting modern classical liberalism over Roman republicanism and serving in the Chamber of Deputies from 1819 to 1830 due to his support for a constitutional monarchy. Constant supported the separation of powers as the basis for a liberal democracy, and he also supported the creation of municipal governments. He died in 1830.